


of all the gin joints in all the world

by commedies



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Emotional Constipation, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Jaehyun is an angel, Kissing, M/M, Makeup, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, bassist!yuta, doyoung with piercings, drummer!jaehyun, gay panicking, guitarist!johnny, it's the overused trope of “i have a crush but wont admit it”, keyboardist!hyuck, makeup is important in this, manager!taeyong, okay lots of soft moments, some soft moments, squint to see yutae, stylist!joy, there's one nsfw mention, there's platonic doyu!!, tiniest bit of angst, vocalist!doyoung, ”yuta ur out of the band”
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-19
Updated: 2019-07-19
Packaged: 2020-06-28 07:29:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19807573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/commedies/pseuds/commedies
Summary: doyoung's band needs a drummer, urgently. jaehyun swoops in to save the day.or, how all doyoung needed was a substitute drummer for an upcoming gig, but jaehyun ends up being way more than just that.





	of all the gin joints in all the world

**Author's Note:**

> hello hello!! first of all, i'd like to thank the enrara mods for making this fest possible! tysm for your hard work 💖💖 
> 
> second of all, a note to the prompter: thank you for this wonderful prompt!! i fell in love with it as soon as i read it and i honestly hope i did it justice <3 apologies for not being able to add the ust you asked for... i tried but i guess i'm too deeply rooted on the soft grounds for that fjdshsjs
> 
> to everyone else, i hope you enjoy your reading~
> 
> ps: title from fall out boy's song of the same name!! it has very little to do with the fic lyric-wise, but they both have kind of the same vibe so (give it a listen pls my fellow emos)
> 
> pps: yuta has long red hair in this. is this fact relevant? no. but is it important? absolutely

When Doyoung first meets Jung Jaehyun, he’s in a bit of a situation.

Let’s rewind for a moment.

Here’s the thing: never trust the media telling you having a band is all fun and games. Because one day you're the leader of a considerably well-known underground band, and the next day you have an upcoming show in weeks and don't have a drummer anymore.

He’s not mad at Seulgi for leaving — he knows that, even though she enjoyed playing in Alinea, her dream has always been having her own Bikini Kill-esque girlband. Doyoung and the rest of the band gave Seulgi their full support when she announced she was leaving, promising to be at her new band’s first concert and seeing her off with nothing but good wishes. Everything was fine, until Taeyong, their manager and friend, made a face, looked up something on his phone and coughed awkwardly to get their attention.

“Guys.” they all turned their heads to him. “Not to be the bearer of bad news, but Alinea has a show in three weeks. And you guys are short on one member. So… We need to decide what we’re gonna do. I can cancel it, but-“

“We can find a replacement.” Doyoung stated. “How hard can it be?”

It turns out to be very hard. They made an official announcement saying that Alinea was looking for a drummer replacement for their next show, but, surprisingly, very few people responded to it. Out of this already small number, half of them were terrible, ¼ were there as a prank and the somewhat decent ones froze when asked if they were actually willing to learn the band’s whole setlist.

There was one kid, the best out of the people who auditioned, who didn’t flinch when they mentioned the setlist. Unfortunately, he was still in high school and his schedules didn’t match with the band’s.

They weren’t very optimistic at that time, not even when Taeyong started making phone calls to see if he could solve their problem. So, as a very responsible band leader, Doyoung, stressed and drummerless, decided to drown his nerves in some comfort food, which leads to where he is now.

Comfort food comes in form of whatever is on the menu of The Siren’s Ballroom, a jazz bar-restaurant Doyoung has been visiting since he could remember. His aunt used to sing there, and his mom always tagged along, bringing Doyoung with her. Some would say The Siren’s Ballroom wasn’t exactly a good place for children to be, since it was a  _ bar _ -restaurant, but little Doyoung was just fine coloring his books on one of the velvet sofas and clapping enthusiastically for his aunt after she finished her gig.

That being said, something about the portion of fries the old waiter (Mr. Park, the same man he remembers from his childhood) brings to Doyoung’s table puts his heart at ease. Maybe it’s the good nostalgia — one bite of the food already makes him remember the days when the only stress in his life was his maths homework. Whatever it is, it’s enough for him to always come to The Ballroom when he needs time for himself.

This time, however, Doyoung has company. Johnny, Alinea’s guitarist, and Donghyuck, the keyboardist, decided to come with him when he mentioned comfort food. Doyoung enjoys their presence — sharing this place with his bandmates makes him happy, and he makes a mental note to bring the rest of the band (plus Taeyong and Sooyoung, their stylist) to The Ballroom one day.

He is halfway through his portion of fries when he hears a wonky sound of a saxophone being tuned, a random plucking of bass strings and a little, freestyled melody coming from a piano, clearly a musician warming up. Doyoung smiles, being once again reminded of his childhood. It’s been a few years since his aunt quit singing professionally, and the musicians going up on the small stage don’t look like her at all, but the  _ tap tap tap _ on the mic before the singer starts his gig touches his heart all the same.

The singer introduces himself as Moon Taeil, and Doyoung gets lost in the names of the rest of the band — there are so many string players, but he remembers a Jungwoo and Renjun, and the pianist is called Kun. When he announces the percussionist, though, Johnny lifts his head from his plate and looks to the stage.

“Did he say Jaehyun?” the guitarist asks.

“I guess…? He said a lot of names, I kinda got lost.” Doyoung smiles sheepishly.

Johnny doesn’t take his eyes off the stage, probably trying to find someone. He seems to have achieved that, because his face lights up and he starts tapping Doyoung’s shoulder nonstop.

“That’s him!”

“Who?”

“Jaehyun! Jung Jaehyun!”

“Your college best friend?” Doyoung raises an eyebrow. “Is he in the band? That’s nice.”

“Yup, my college best friend. And that’s not only nice, Doyoung, that’s fucking  _ awesome _ .” Johnny smiles smugly. “Come on, ask me why.”

“Why?”

“He’s the  _ drummer _ , Doyoungie! He can save our lives!”

  
  
  
  


Jung Jaehyun is a blonde. 

Well, he is not  _ a blonde _ , more like he’s  _ currently  _ blonde. Doyoung doesn’t know why he noticed that at first. Must be the way the man’s light hair contrasts with his black eyeliner.

After Johnny suggested they invited Jaehyun to be Alinea’s substitute drummer on their upcoming gig, he dragged Doyoung and Donghyuck to stand in front of the small stage to see his skills up close. There’s where the three are now, heads bobbing to the smooth jazz the band is playing at first.

Moon Taeil’s voice is amazing, and the band’s skills are just as great, vocals and instrumental blending together perfectly. The bass player looks young, around Donghyuck’s age, but (just like Donghyuck) he plays as if he’s been doing that for 30 years. Doyoung tries to focus his attention on Jaehyun — that’s why he’s so close to the stage after all.

And the guy is good. He’s great, even. It shows when the music changes to a more upbeat tune and Jaehyun executes a few intricate lines to give more life to the song, blonde locks bouncing as he shakes his head to the beat and cute dimples coming to life when he smiles to himself after a well-placed cymbal hit.

Okay, so maybe Jaehyun is cute.

The upbeat song ends, and the audience claps. Doyoung stays in front of the stage, enjoying the music, that now has a soft and mellow vibe. This time, the drumming is calmer, slower, with a few moments of rest. During those moments, Jaehyun has this annoying habit of brushing back his hair. Doyoung hates how a simple move can make his heart beat a little too fast for such a slow song.

Okay, so Jaehyun is  _ definitely _ a little more than just cute.

Thankfully, the music changes to a happier song again, and Doyoung distracts himself by dancing with Johnny and Donghyuck, who thought the dancefloor was too motionless and decided to shake it up a little. By now, more patrons have joined them, some dancing in pairs, groups or even by themselves. That makes Doyoung smile — the bar  _ is  _ called The Siren’s Ballroom after all.

The change in the atmosphere is appreciated by the musicians as well. Doyoung notices Taeil smiling wider as he sings, and the bassist is swinging a lot more to the beat, encouraged by the audience’s enthusiasm. For the sake of his heart, Doyoung doesn’t look directly at Jaehyun, scared that those dimples would be on full display again.

When the band finishes their first set and announce a little break, Johnny stays to say hi to Jaehyun and talk to him about Alinea’s situation. Doyoung excuses himself back to their table to catch his breath (he’s tired from the dancing), order more food and a drink, and recover from his little heart-racing incident involving a certain drummer. Donghyuck accompanies him, a knowing smile on his innocent features.

“You think he’s cute.” the younger says, accusingly. “Johnny’s friend. The drummer. You think he’s cute.”

“No, I don’t.” Doyoung crosses his arms.

“Don’t even try to deny it.” Donghyuck snatches a french fry from the plate in front of him, left forgotten while they were on the dancefloor. He takes a bite and points at Doyoung with the rest of the fry. “You were staring at him the whole time. Literally. The whole time. I wish I was exaggerating. Also, you’re blushing right now.”

“First of all, that french fry is probably cold and disgusting. Ew. Second of all, I’m not blushing. Third of all, who I find attractive or not is none of your business. Now, be a good bandmate and order a small pepperoni pizza for us while I go order our drinks. Another lemon soda for you?”

“I think I want cranberry this time.”

“Okay. Don’t forget the pizza. I’ll be right back.”

A few minutes later, while Doyoung and Donghyuck wait for the pizza, Johnny comes back. The youngest hands him a drink, and he takes a sip before announcing:

“Jaehyun said he can be our substitute drummer for a night. He’s okay with learning our setlist and it’s not because he’s my best friend or anything, but I think he can do it. That means we need to schedule an audition for him, right?”

“Yeah.” Doyoung nods. “Tell him to come to our next rehearsal, 1 hour earlier. If he’s good, he stays for the whole thing, so he can start learning our songs.”

As Johnny unlocks his phone and texts Jaehyun the details for his audition, Doyoung closes his eyes and sighs internally, realizing that he only has a couple of days to prepare himself to the experience that will be seeing Jung Jaehyun again, this time meeting him properly and — even worse — talking to him.

Doyoung slaps Donghyuck’s arm when he sees the younger laughing at his panicked face.

  
  
  
  


“Pop this gum one more time and I’ll physically kick you out of the band.”

“I’m bored, okay?” Yuta crosses his arms, popping another gum bubble, much to Donghyuck’s demise. “Blame Doyoung for making us arrive earlier to wait for our new guy.”

“Excuse me?” Doyoung raises an eyebrow. “I thought we were a professional band, and being professional included punctuality.”

“Yeah, but being  _ thirty minutes _ early doesn’t mean you’re aiming for punctuality, it means you’re kind of an anxious mess.”

“He does have a point, Doyoungie.” Taeyong says, smiling softly in an attempt to tranquilize the singer. “Relax. It’s not the pope, it’s just another musician, like you guys. There’s no need to be nervous.”

“Of course there’s a reason, he’s our last chance of finding a drummer for our concert. If it doesn’t work out with him, we’re drummerless. So, I’m sorry for making you guys wait, but yeah, I’m a little nervous.” Doyoung huffs, breath hitting his fringe and making it lift up before going back down.

“I’d say this whole thing is 60% anxiety and 40% gay panic.” Donghyuck says, looking at the singer smugly. “But maybe that’s just my imagination.”

“Now you’re just attacking me.” 

“Just stating the facts.”

“What do you mean by ‘gay panic’?” Yuta asks. “Do tell me more about it.”

The keyboardist smirks. “Gladly. So, you see…”

He’s —  _ thankfully _ , Doyoung thinks — interrupted by a ringtone, the intro to Queen’s  _ Bohemian Rhapsody _ — it’s Johnny’s phone. The guitarist picks it up and, after a few moments and some “yeah”s, “okay”s and a “fine, see you soon”, he hangs up.

“Jaehyun said he’s arriving in five minutes or so. I’ll go wait for him downstairs.”

The rest of the band nods, and Johnny leaves, closing the door behind him. Taeyong rolls his eyes when the guitarist’s loud footsteps can be heard, signaling he’s going down the stairs way faster than it’s considered safe.

“I hate it when he does that.” the manager sighs.

  
  
  


When Johnny comes back a few minutes later, it’s with a jacket-clad Jaehyun in tow, backpack slung over one shoulder and looking around curiously, as a person would do in a new place. Actually, in his case, curiosity is expected — the soundproof studio built on the second floor of Yuta’s house is indeed something you don’t see around often. When Alinea had their very first rehearsal at the bassist’s house, they had the same reaction.

Jaehyun then looks at the group of people gathered in the room and breaks into an easy smile, greeting them with a wave. “Hi, everyone. I’m Jaehyun. It’s nice to meet you all.”

They all answer him with “hey”s and “hello”s and introduce themselves, also stating their position in the band. After Doyoung tells him his name and what he does, Jaehyun’s face lights up a little.

“Oh, I remember you!” he smiles. “You were on The Ballroom that day. You were standing right in front of the stage, so I saw you. You’re a good dancer.” he pauses, and turns to Donghyuck. “I think you were there too?”

“I was.” the keyboardist nods. “I just didn’t spend as much time on the dance floor, but I saw your gig. You’re good.”

“Thank you. I can play different styles other than jazz. Just to, uh, clear things up.” Jaehyun adds, a little awkwardly.

“Are you on board with learning our setlist?” Doyoung asks, crossing his arms and leaning back on the chair he’s sitting on.

“Y-Yeah, sure. Johnny told me about it, I’m okay with it.”

“Are you nervous?” Taeyong puts a hand on Jaehyun’s shoulder, a sympathetic smile on his face. 

“Kinda.”

“Don’t be. We’re all friends here, no one will eat you alive, I promise. Well,” the older chuckles. “Doyoung might look like he will, but he’s just as nervous as you are.”

“Stop exposing me without my consent, thank you.” Doyoung hisses half-heartedly. He turns to Jaehyun. “But he’s right. I’m kind of anxious right now because you’re pretty much our last hope. So yeah.” the singer smiles. “No pressure.”

Yuta snorts at that last sentence, fiddling with the cables connecting his bass to an amp. “Dude, just relax. We already know you’re good, now all we need to do is click together.”

Johnny nods, putting an arm around Jaehyun. “You’re gonna fit in just fine. I have a good feeling about this.”

The drummer pats his hand with a thankful smile and lets out a breath.

“So, what do I need to do?”

“Come here.” Doyoung leads him to the drum kit positioned near one of the walls. It hasn’t been used since Seulgi left, but they made sure it was tuned and well-set up the day before. Jaehyun sits on the stool and waits for more instructions, looking up at the singer with big, sparkly eyes. Or maybe that’s Doyoung’s traitorous imagination playing tricks. He clears his throat and continues. “We were thinking you could play a song of your choice first, then a song that we will choose off of our setlist. Is that alright with you?”

“Aye, captain.” the drummer nods, eliciting an unexpected snort from Doyoung.

The singer retreats back to his chair, giving Jaehyun some space while he connects his phone to an amp — with Johnny’s help — and taps around, probably skimming over his music library to choose a song. 

The guitarist squeezes his friend’s shoulder and walks away as well, leaning on the wall near the door, facing Jaehyun. “Whenever you’re ready, bro.”

The younger scoffs good-naturedly at the use of the nickname and, after scrolling his phone’s screen a little more, he gives the band a thumbs up to signal he’s chosen the song.

Doyoung nods at him. “Show us what you’ve got.”

Jaehyun grabs his drumsticks and hits the play button.

  
  
  


There’s something peculiar about the way Jaehyun plays the drums. Doyoung can’t pinpoint what it is, exactly — he just knows it draws his attention in a way that has him staring, unable to tear his gaze away from the younger man.

It’s not inherently a Jaehyun thing, though. A lot of musicians have that special something, some sort of charm that turns them into an attention magnet when they’re performing. The problem is that Doyoung has seen a lot of musicians and countless live performances, but none of them had him as hypnotized as he is now.

He feels dizzy with every cymbal crash, and he’s enraptured in a way he doesn’t even recognize the song Jaehyun is playing until after 2 minutes or so. It’s a Panic! At The Disco song from around 2011 that Doyoung isn’t sure about the name, but he remembers listening to it on repeat when it came out. Oh, the good ol’ days.

When the song ends, Doyoung blinks once, twice, slowly coming out of his daze. Jaehyun looks at his small audience, waiting for their reaction, leg bouncing in expectation. The silence is broken when Yuta lets out an impressed whistle that propels the whole room to start clapping. A smile blossoms on the drummer’s lips and he ducks his head a little, overwhelmed by all of the attention, and, oh God, is he  _ blushing _ ? Doyoung finds it infuriatingly cute and is hit by the urge to pinch his cheeks. Or kiss him.

Yeah, that’s a thought he’ll be storing away to think about later. Or never. Never sounds good.

“That was great!” Taeyong smiles. 

“Thank you.” Jaehyun smiles back, dimples on full display.

“Now, are you ready for round two?”

“Yup!” he taps the drumsticks on his thigh excitedly. “Are you guys playing too?”

Yuta nods. “Like I said, we need to click.”

“We’ll go easy on you.” Johnny says as he slings his guitar strap around his neck.

“Oh, you don’t need to. I’m alright.”

“Is that so?” Doyoung raises an eyebrow and positions himself behind the mic stand. “Okay. We’re playing  _ Rollercoaster _ .”

“That’ll scare him away.” Yuta scoffs. “Don’t do that. We actually  _ need _ him, you know.”

“What? It’s a test. If he can play  _ Rollercoaster _ , he can play anything.”

The bassist rolls his eyes and turns to Jaehyun. “Don’t mind his attitude. He gets cranky when he’s nervous.”

“Also, he’s a bit competitive.” Donghyuck chimes in, spinning on a stool. “Your comment about not needing an easy song probably triggered his X-games mode.”

“For all things holy, stop talking about me like I’m not here.” Doyoung drags his hands down his face. “We can go for an easier song if that’s what you guys want. It’s okay.”

“I’m okay with  _ Rollercoaster _ , though.” Jaehyun says. “I’ve listened to it before, I’m fine with playing it. Don’t change it because of me.”

The singer narrows his eyes, trying to figure out if Jaehyun’s attitude is genuine “i’m-okay-with-whatever-i-don’t-want-to-be-a-bother” behaviour or if he’s just finding a subtle way of flaunting his talents. He decides to let it go, because Yuta’s previous statement was right — he does get cranky when he’s nervous, and he doesn’t want to misjudge Jaehyun’s character because of an ambiguous sentence.

“If you insist.” Doyoung shrugs and turns to the rest of the band. “You guys okay with it?”

There’s a chorus of “yeah”s and “sure”s, and a “do I have a choice?” from Donghyuck. Johnny ruffles the boy’s hair, retorts with a “no, you don’t” and, after everyone’s properly settled and ready, they start playing.

Doyoung loves  _ Rollercoaster _ . Despite being their hardest song to play, it’s also always a guarantee of having a good time with the audience. The crowd always goes wild with the initial bass riff, and seems to find it the perfect song to crowdsurf to. 

He sings through it with a smile, for once on that day not getting distracted by Jaehyun. He acknowledges the drummer — who is, indeed, doing a good job — , but is momentarily immune to his charms. 

Which is a relief, to be honest. Doyoung was getting tired of unwanted thoughts popping into his mind about how good the other man looked when he smiled, or how it would feel like to run a hand through his hair, or if his lips were as soft as they looked. Those mushy musings seem to stop, and the singer is glad — for he doesn’t even know where they came from in the first place.

_ Rollercoaster _ ends with the same bass riff it starts with, this time being doubled by the guitar, and then all instruments play an open C chord to resolve the song. Taeyong claps enthusiastically when they’re done, like he always does — the man does a great job at being a manager, a friend and a personal hypeman at the same time — and unlocks his phone, saying something about tweeting about the band’s amazing energy when playing this song.

“That was fun.” Yuta chirps. “I love  _ Rollercoaster _ . Even though I always think I’ll forget the main riff.”

“We’ve been playing that song for years, I don’t think you’d be able to forget it.” Doyoung chuckles, leaning on the mic stand. “It’s probably engraved in your mind forever. But yeah, it was fun.” he turns to Jaehyun. “You did a great job, by the way. Congrats.”

“Oh, thank you.” the drummer smiles. “I was actually really nervous and shaking from head to toe, so. I’m glad it didn’t show.”

“You didn’t seem nervous when you said you were fine with playing it, though?”

“You’re really not letting this go, huh?”

“I’m just pulling your leg.” the singer smiles, hoping it’s friendly enough for the other to realize the teasing is all in good fun. “But seriously, you had no reason to be nervous. You’re  _ really _ good — believe in your own skills, man.”

“It wasn’t the  _ song _ that made me nervous.” Jaehyun explains. “It was playing it with you guys. You know, the people who actually made the song. There’s a lot of pressure involved, okay, I couldn’t fuck it up.”

“Oh, that makes sense.”

“And, to be honest, you’re kind of intimidating.” he adds, looking at Doyoung apologetically.

“ _ Me _ ??”

“Yup. I thought you were judging me the whole time. And you have a very intense gaze, so yeah.”

“Really? I didn’t know that. But I’m not an intimidating person at all.” the singer turns to his bandmates. “Guys, am I intimidating?”

“Absolutely not.” Donghyuck states.

“Nope.” Johnny shakes his head.

“He’s a loser, just like all of us.” Yuta says as he hugs Doyoung by the shoulders. “If you spend some time with him, you’ll find out.”

“Hey!” the singer protests, playfully shoving the other away. 

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Jaehyun chuckles at their antics. “So, um, sorry to cut the fun short but, like… Am I in? Did I pass the test?”

“Oh, right, we need to decide that.” Johnny says. “We clicked so well I almost forgot about it.”

“Do you guys want me to leave so you can, I don’t know, confer?”

“Nah, you don’t need to.” Doyoung assures. “Stay here. We don’t need to discuss that much, anyway.”

Donghyuck leans over his keyboard to pipe into the conversation. “To be honest, I thought he was already in and we were doing this just to be sure. And, you know, formalities.”

“Yeah, I thought that too.” Yuta adds. “I thought we were just doing a compatibility test today. To see if Jaehyun has chemistry with the band.”

“And do I?”

All eyes turn to Doyoung.

“Why are you looking at me?” he asks. “It’s a group answer.” 

“But you’re the leader.” the bassist points out.

“Still a group answer.”

Yuta rolls his eyes. “Okay, if you like Jaehyun and think we clicked well with him, raise your hand.”

Unsurprisingly, all four members of Alinea — plus Taeyong — raise their hands, and Jaehyun automatically cracks a smile. 

“Well”, Donghyuck grins. “I guess we all saw that coming.”

“Yeah.” Doyoung puts one hand on the drummer’s shoulders as all eyes turn to him again, expecting the leader to say the words everyone wants to hear to make it official. “You’re absolutely in. Welcome to Alinea.”

Jaehyun stays for the rest of the rehearsal, and everyone is surprised at how well he did his homework on the band’s setlist — he slips up only a few times, and none of them consist of major mistakes. It’s like he’s been playing with them since the beginning, and the whole band is amazed, complimenting him everytime they can.

When rehearsal is done and it’s time for them to leave, they all send Jaehyun home with warm goodbyes. Johnny gives him a hug and asks if he needs a lift, to which the drummer politely reclines. While the whole band in watching him leave from Yuta’s doorstep, the bassist pokes Doyoung on the ribs to call his attention.

“He’s pretty, don’t you think?” he whispers.

“Yeah, he’s pretty good.” the singer nods. “That’s why we thought about hiring him in the first place.”

“Oh, he’s pretty good, of course, but that’s not what I said. I said he’s  _ pretty _ . Not pretty good. Pretty, period.” Yuta smirks. “You agree with me, right?”

Doyoung blushes at the implication and averts his gaze. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Of course you do. We all saw it, Doyoungie. You were shooting him the biggest heart eyes I’ve ever seen.”

“No, I wasn’t.”

“You almost fell off your chair when he hit that last cymbal crash. It was actually kind of pathetic.”

“I’ll literally kick you out of the band. Shut up.”

Doyoung turns to leave, but Yuta is ridiculously annoying when he wants to be, so he follows the singer, still pestering him and trying to get him to admit his infatuation towards Jaehyun. Which doesn’t exist.

“Aw, don’t be like that, it’s okay to have a little crush. It’s not something to be embarrassed of.”

“I  _ don’t _ have a crush.” Doyoung grumbles. “He’s a good looking guy, sure, but so are many others. It takes more than that to get me, as you grossly implied, ‘infatuated’.”

“Well, he’s a very nice guy and very talented too.” Yuta points out, holding up his fingers as he counts Jaehyun’s good attributes. “He’s into the same music as you, and has a nice laugh. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I might be onto something here.”

The singer scowls and crosses his arms. “You’re wrong. And you seem to be having way too much fun with this.”

“Believe me, I am. It’s always fun to rile you up.” the older pinches his cheek and chuckles, before schooling his features into a more serious, yet still caring, expression. “But seriously, I might be wrong and you might really not be interested in him, but if I’m right, and your heart is kind of doing that flippity-floppity stuff over Jaehyun… What’s so bad about that?”

Doyoung furrows his eyebrows, puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, would it be so bad to start developing feelings for a nice guy? I’m your friend, Doyoungie, I know I’m kind of — very — annoying sometimes, but I want to see you happy. It might be nothing this time, I might be taking a wrong guess, but if you feel like Jaehyun could make something grow inside here...” Yuta points to the singer’s chest, over his heart. “Don’t hold back. It’s not a bad thing to feel. Alright?”

“Alright.” Doyoung nods. He’s slightly frowning, but forces a small smile to take place on his features. “Thank you for that. You’re a great friend. I can’t stand you sometimes but I really couldn’t live without you.”

“Aww, that’s so cute!” Yuta coos, and the younger automatically regrets showing softness in front of him. That regret washes over quickly, though, when his friend hugs him tight. “I couldn’t live without you either, melonhead. You can count on me, yeah?”

“You can count on me too, potatoface.”

When they break the hug and Yuta leaves Doyoung alone — not before ruffling his hair —, his words ring through the singer’s mind.

_ What’s so bad about that? _

Doyoung doesn’t have an answer.

  
  
  
  


The day of their gig comes faster than they expected. One minute they’re rehearsing, having fun, being relaxed while practicing, and the other their alarms are already ringing, urging them to wake up, get ready and rush to the soundcheck. Doyoung, in fact, doesn’t get much sleep at all — pre-concert jitters taking the best of him and not letting his eyes stay closed for long — but it’s okay. He’s been like that before, and he knows he has enough energy to put on a good performance and not pass out on stage. He’ll just collapse on the first horizontal surface he sees after the show’s done.

“Damn those eyebags.” Park Sooyoung, Alinea’s stylist, scolds him, makeup pencils in hand. They’re alone on the backstage area of the place the band is going to perform — the rest of the band decided to go on a snack run during the free time they had between the soundcheck and the actual gig, so the singer is the only one in there, for now. 

(He just hopes the other boys remember the snacks he asked for.)

“Sorry.” Doyoung smiles sheepishly. “I couldn’t sleep.”

“Yeah, I can  _ see _ that!” Sooyoung laughs as she applies concealer on the singer’s skin. “How do you feel wearing a whole Prada collection under your eyes?”

“They’re Chanel, actually.” Doyoung quips.

“Hm, I see your lack of sleep hasn’t ruined your good mood. That’s great!” she holds his face with the tips of her fingers. “Now stay still while I finish your makeup, I have four other boys to doll up after you. Well, three, if Yuta decides to spare me and do his own makeup.”

The singer obeys, letting Sooyoung pamper his face with everything she deems needed for a nice look. She's adept of the "less is more" philosophy, so it's not much — only a bit of foundation, lip tint and her signature smokey eyeshadow. 

“Your lip ring always makes this difficult.” Sooyoung huffs, eyeing the silver band adorning the middle of Doyoung’s bottom lip. “Lovely for the aesthetic, a pain in the ass for makeup artists.” she hands him the lip tint and grabs her supplies bag. “Try putting it on yourself, I’ll be right back with everyone’s outfits for today. When are the others going to arrive?”

“Probably anytime now. The convenience store isn’t very far.”

“Oh, shit, you’re still going to eat, aren’t you?” Sooyoung rolls his eyes. “Don’t apply the lip tint just yet. Wait for you food, eat, and then put it on. So you don’t need to re-do the whole process.”

Doyoung nods. “Alright.”

“Perfect. If the others aren’t here by the time I get back, they’re going to face my wrath.”

“You’re spending a lot of time with Taeyong, you’re absorbing his parental nature.” the singer scoffs. “Sending empty motherly-threats and all.”

“Let’s see if they’re empty.” Sooyoung crosses her arms. “Where  _ is  _ Taeyong, by the way?”

“Chaperoning the snack run. He said he doesn’t trust Yuta and Donghyuck on a convenience store by themselves.”

“Well, he isn’t wrong.” the stylist shrugs. 

When Sooyoung is just making a turn to leave to get the band’s performance outfits from her car, the rest of Alinea enters the room, bags full of snacks on their hands. Donghyuck has a small chocolate bar halfway into his mouth, struggling to get its colorful wrapper off. His eyes widen when he sees the stylist — they were kinda hoping to be back before she arrived.

“Oh, there you are!” Sooyoung exclaims. “I’m relieved. You were almost too late to get ready. I gotta hurry, so settle down, eat your snacks — I hope there’s something sustaining in those bags —, please brush your teeth and wait for me. I’m gonna get your clothes. You’re all gonna look lovely.” 

“We always look good.” Doyoung points out.

“Yeah, thanks to  _ me _ .” the woman smiles as she walks to the door. She pinches Donghyuck’s cheek on her way out. “I’ll be right back!”

  
  
  
  


When Sooyoung comes back, the boys are already with their stomachs full — they did indeed buy sustaining enough snacks — and their teeth brushed. Doyoung is applying the lip tint she told him to wear, focused on the mirror, and startles when the stylist walks in with a loud  _ bang _ when opening the door. She’s carrying a big travel suitcase, along with her supplies bag, which she settles down carefully on a chair.

“I need an assistant.” she sighs, looking at the bags, then at the boys. “Badly.”

“Try announcing it online.” Johnny suggests while scrolling through his phone. “Tweet about it, or something.”

“Absolutely not. There has to be a safer way to do it. I don’t want to be scammed.” Sooyoung is about to continue, but stops herself from ranting further. “Okay, we don’t have time for that, I’ll think about looking for an assistant later. I need to get started on your styling right...” she scans the room, looking for a person in particular, and smiles when she finds the only unfamiliar face in the room — Jaehyun. “Now.” the stylist gets up to greet him, extending her hand. “Hello, we haven’t met in person yet. You must be Jaehyun, right? I’m Sooyoung, the band’s stylist and friend.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” the drummer politely shakes her hand.

“Likewise. You probably noticed that I'm a little chaotic.”

“ _ A little _ .” Doyoung scoffs. “More like a lot.”

Sooyoung rolls her eyes. “Ignore him. But yeah, I talk a lot and I’m a little blunt, but I promise I’m nice. And I’m really good at my job. Don’t worry.”

“Okay.” Jaehyun chuckles. “I trust you.”

“You’re in good hands.” she pats his shoulder. “Since you’re fresh meat, I’m starting with you today, alright? Let me just-“ she walks over to the travel suitcase, zips it open and starts taking out a few items. “Find your change of clothes. Not this one, not this one… Aha! Found it.” she hands Jaehyun a package of neatly folded clothes inside a thin plastic bag. “There you go. You can change in that bathroom over there, or in front of all of us if you’re an exhibitionist like Yuta.”

“That was one time.” the man in question sighs. “ _ One time _ ! And now my dignity is ruined.”

“Bold of you to assume it was intact to begin with.” Donghyuck quips, and gets an empty sandwich wrapper thrown at him in retaliation.

Sooyoung and Jaehyun exchange looks at that exchange.

“They’re a handful, huh.” the drummer chuckles.

“Oh, don’t I know it. Now go, go, I hope the clothes fit you right. I know asked you what size you wear via groupchat, but there’s always that small error margin. Well, tell me if something doesn’t fit well, alright?”

“Sure! Uh, be right back.”

The stylist nods, and Jaehyun leaves. When Sooyoung is sure he can’t hear them, she says:

“He’s an angel. I honestly don’t know how you four crackheads managed to get him on your band, but keep him around.” 

Moments later, the drummer comes back, and Doyoung, who has been just minding his own business waiting for his turn to change, feels his heart skip a beat at the sight.

Jaehyun is wearing almost all black, and it should look plain, but it doesn’t. His graphic band t-shirt hangs loosely on his frame and is tucked inside his skinny jeans that show a little bit of leg through rips on the thighs and knees. The only thing that deviates from the color palette, yet compliments the look perfectly, is a deep burgundy flannel shirt tied to his waist.

He looks great. Amazing, even. Doyoung tries to stop his own brain from thinking it, but it’s too late —  _ he looks like perfect rockstar-boyfriend material _ . 

A significant blush makes itself known on the singer’s face, and he realizes he’s still staring at Jaehyun. He blinks, tries to organize his thoughts, and averts his gaze. Unfortunately, he makes the mistake of looking over at Sooyoung, who probably noticed his little gay crisis and is now wiggling her eyebrows at him. Doyoung points a threatening finger at her and mouths a “don’t you dare”, but the only thing he gets as a response is a soundless giggle.

His gay crisis, however, is far from being over. Sooyoung, like the part-time demon she sometimes proves herself to be, decides to put Jaehyun in an electric blue eyeshadow that goes ridiculously well with his brown eyes and blonde hair. She also goes wild with the eyeliner, lining the drummer’s eyes with pitch black kohl and, to top the whole look of, tints his lips with a soft shade of red that makes them look 10 times more kissable.

Doyoung wonders if this is a plan to make fun of him or if he just really lost his marbles this time.

Sooyoung approaches him and discreetly elbows his side. “Thank me later.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Sure you don’t. You can’t fool me, darling. These eyes”, she points to her face. “See everything.”

“I still don’t get why I’d need to thank you.”

“Because I made your loverboy look like a full-course meal and now you have eyecandy? I mean, he already looks like a full-course meal, I just leveled that up. So thank me later.”

Doyoung covers his face with his hands embarrassed. “He’s not  _ my _ anything, shut up.”

“Yet.” Sooyoung points out. “Aw, you’re so cute when you’re embarrassed. And I see you’re very emotionally constipated too, but that’s a problem I’ll leave you to deal with on your own. Only you can sort out your feelings. But here’s a piece of advice: he’s a good one. Don’t let him go, alright?” she smiles and ruffles his hair. “Listen to your big sister, I’m very wise.”

“We’re the same age.” the singer deadpans.

“Semantics.” Sooyoung waves her hand dismissively. “Shoot, I need to get back to work. Think about what I said, Doyoungie. Hope everything works out.” she kisses the tips of her fingers and presses them to Doyoung’s cheek, “transferring” the kiss, and walks away to do someone else’s makeup.

Doyoung can only thank the universe that the other members were distracted with each other while Sooyoung gave him that little pep talk, or it would’ve added to his embarrassment. He shivers at the thought of them barging into the conversation or, even worse,  _ listening _ to it. He looks at Jaehyun subtly, searching for a reaction, but he seems oblivious, laughing at something Yuta is showing him on his phone.

His laugh is so cute. His eyes crinkle into little crescents and his dimples make an appearance, the whole sight shooting love arrows at Doyoung’s heart. The singer cringes at his own thoughts and shakes his head, as if it would make them go away.

Both Sooyoung’s and Yuta’s advices ring inside his brain, like a ghost haunting his mind. It’s a good-natured ghost, Doyoung reasons, but he can’t think about his supposed feelings for Jaehyun right now. He’ll leave that to do later, in the comfort of his house, while eating chicken nuggets and listening to sad blink-182 songs.

He’s already warmed up before, but starts doing vocal exercises again, to occupy his kind with something.

  
  
  
  


Their show goes without a hitch. 

Alinea wasn’t expecting a large audience, since they would be playing in a rather unknown venue, but they’re surprised: they’re welcomed by a big crowd, cheers and roars echoing through the space. 

At some point during the show, Yuta suggests a moshpit, like he always does. From where he stands in the center of the stage, Doyoung can practically sense Taeyong rolling his eyes wherever he’s watching them from. The manager always says he hates moshing, but, ironically, he likes Yuta twice as much, so he always lets the bassist’s antics slide with only his trademark eyeroll and a shake of the head, followed by an almost automatic fond smile directed at the red-haired man.

After Alinea finishes their gig, encore included, Doyoung’s previous sleepless night cashes in, and he feels drained. He slumps against Johnny’s back while they’re walking out of the venue, walking sluggishly.

“You didn’t get any sleep, did you?” the guitarist asks, steps stuttering due to the weight added on his back. Doyoung detaches himself from his friend, walking by his side instead.

“Nope.” he shakes his head. “Nervous.”

“It happens. Make sure to get a good rest when you get home, okay?”

The singer nods, yawning. The group approaches Taeyong’s minivan, Alinea’s official vehicle — it has their logo painting and all —, and they all get inside one by one. Doyoung is the last to do it, his brain too slow to catch up with his surroundings. He becomes more alert, however, when he sees the only seat left is beside Jaehyun.

His cheeks have the audacity to heat up. It’s absolutely no big deal, just sitting beside a temporary band member, but his heart clearly thinks otherwise.  _ I'm too tired for that _ , he muses as he takes a seat.

Doyoung's traitorous brain automatically registers how warm Jaehyun is. They're not really plastered to each other, but he can feel the other's body heat radiating, and has to fight the instinct to snuggle closer. That can't happen.

Except it can, because all it takes is a few minutes on the road for the van's movement to lull Doyoung to sleep — making his head roll to the side and end up on Jaehyun's shoulder.

He's almost drifting off to dreamland, but registers the other's surprised chuckle. 

"Sorry, I'm just… Really tired." the singer says, voice slurring. He makes a move of lifting his head, but Jaehyun places a gentle hand on top of it.

"I don’t mind. You can use me as a pillow.”

“M’kay. Thank you. Wake me up if I drool on you or something.”

The drummer laughs softly. “I will. Sleep well.”

Doyoung hums, eyes closed, absorbing the other’s warmth. 

He falls asleep almost immediately.

  
  
  


When the van stops to drop him off at his house, Jaehyun wakes him up by gently rubbing his shoulder. While he’s saying goodbye to everyone, Doyoung notices the smug smiles and wiggly eyebrows the rest of the band is sending at his direction. 

He really is too tired to deal with them, so he just hopes his half-asleep glare is threatening enough and gets out of the van.

The only thing he does after stepping inside his apartment is change into comfortable clothes and plop down on his bed. He blacks out completely into a dreamless sleep, and future Doyoung is thankful for that — he doesn’t know how he’d cope with waking up and realizes he’s dreamt of soft gazes, blonde hair and cute dimples.

  
  
  
  


Doyoung wakes up to his phone going off. 

As he unlocks it to see where the noise is coming from, he sees what time it is and notices he managed to get a very nice and long night of sleep. He feels like it, too — well-rested and comfortable, ready for another day.

Turns out the incessant beeping is just a bunch of notifications, more specifically from Alinea’s groupchat. Doyoung panics for a second, thinking something’s wrong, but sighs in relief when he sees is just messages about last night’s show. Jaehyun sent a text about how much fun he had, how great it was to play with them, and that they can count on him anytime they need a drummer, and now the rest of the members are thanking him and sending cute texts. Doyoung smiles and sends his own thank-you text, followed by fun stickers that are enthusiastically responded to in the same fashion.

He remembers Sooyoung telling them to keep Jaehyun around, and figures it’ll be an easy thing to do.

  
  
  
  


The band ends up needing Jaehyun’s help sooner than they imagined. It’s a Tuesday, not long after their last gig, when Taeyong calls them for an emergency meeting. When the band is all gathered at Yuta’s house, he drops the bomb.

“I got a call today. From the Ballroom.”

“ _ The  _ Ballroom?” Doyoung asks, mouth agape. “Like, The Siren’s Ballroom?”

Taeyong nods, and the singer beams. In all his career, he never got to play at his favorite music bar — mainly because Alinea isn’t a jazz band. He doesn’t get why The Ballroom would like a rock band like themselves to play there now, but he’s happy nonetheless.

“They’re opening a few nights to welcome bands from different genres, and Alinea was their pick for the first rock night.” the manager continues. “So, they called to see if you guys were in.”

“When would that be?”

Taeyong looks to the side, hesitant. “This Saturday.”

“You’re kidding.” Johnny says. “ _ This _ Saturday?”

“Did you say we’d do it?” Yuta questions.

“No, of course not, I know it’s too soon. That’s why I called this emergency meeting.”

“It is indeed an emergency.” Donghyuck mutters. “So, what are we doing?”

“Ok, don’t yell at me, but I kinda wanna do it.” Doyoung fiddles with his earrings, nervous. “I know it’s, like, round the corner, but I’ve been wanting to play at the Ballroom since I became a musician. Obviously, if one of us doesn’t feel confident in doing it, we’re not doing it, but yeah. I want to.”

“Oh, I forgot to mention it won’t be a long gig.” Taeyong chimes in. “They said it could be, like, half of your setlist. So, less songs.”

“That makes the idea seem less scary.” Yuta ponders. “Well, if everyone wants to go, I won’t oppose. We’ve been in rougher situations as a band.”

“Yeah, I think we can do it.” Johnny nods. “I’m okay with it.”

All eyes turn to Donghyuck.

“Well, I’m not against the idea either.” the keyboardist starts. “Will it be kind of rushed? Yes. Will we have to wing a few things? Probably. But I wouldn’t mind, it would be a good adventure of sorts. I just think there's one thing we’re forgetting here.” he points to himself, then to each of the other members. “Keyboard, guitar, bass, vocals. We’re still drummerless. We can’t say yes if we don’t have a drummer.”

“Oh, you’re right.” Doyoung frowns. “So I guess it’s a no.”

“Well… Jaehyun did say we could call him again if we needed.” Yuta suggests. 

“Yeah, but the show is literally this week. It would be like asking a double favor.”

“You can always treat him to dinner after.” the bassist shoots finger guns at Doyoung, who flips him off in retaliation. “No, but really, I know it’s asking a lot, but he will be getting paid just like the rest of us. It’s worth a shot, don’t you think?”

“Maybe.” 

“I can call him.” Johnny volunteers, taking his phone out of his pocket and shaking it for emphasis. “I’ll put him on speaker and we all talk to him.”

“Do you think he’d mind?” Doyoung asks. The guitarist  _ does _ know Jaehyun better than the rest of them — his take on the situation weighs a lot more. “Being invited to save our asses again all of a sudden?”

“Nah, I think he’d be okay. He likes challenges, and he likes us, so. But we need to ask to be sure.”

“Yeah, yeah, of course. Call him, let’s see what he says.”

Jaehyun picks up after three rings.  _ "Hello?" _ his voice echoes in the room.

"Hi, Jae." Johnny greets. "How are you?"

_ "I'm fine. You?" _

"Me too. Uh, look, are you doing anything this Saturday?"

_ "Hm, I don't think so. Why?" _

"You see, I'm here with the band right now, and we wanted to ask you something."

"A favor, to be more specific." Doyoung adds. "A huge favor. You can totally say no."

_ "Oh, am I on speaker? It must be really important, then." _

"It is, but like I said it's a really big favor, so you can say no if you think it's too much."

_ "You're making it sound like you need help hiding a dead body." _ Jaehyun chuckles. 

"Oh no, you found our secret." Yuta fake gasps.

"Stop that." Taeyong flicks his ear. "Knowing you, he'll probably believe it."

"Sorry." the bassist ducks his head, but doesn't look sorry at all.

_ "If it's not hiding a body, what is it?" _

"We got invited by The Siren's Ballroom to play a short gig there, but we still don't have a drummer. So." Johnny explains. "The thing is, the date is this Saturday."

_ "Wow. That's pretty soon. Just around the corner." _

"That's why we called to see if you were okay with it. We know it's a lot to ask."

_ "You said it's a short gig, right?" _

"Yeah. We'll choose a few songs out of our regular setlist."

_ "I'll do it." _

"Wait, really?" Doyoung asks, surprised.

"Just like that?" Donghyuck adds.

_ "Yeah. You made it sound way worse than it actually is."  _ Jaehyun laughs.  _ "If it's from your concert setlist, I know all the songs, so really, there's no problem. It'll be a fun adventure." _

"Told you he'd be fine with it." Johnny smiles. "Thank you so much, bro. You're saving our asses for the second time now."

_ "Honestly, it's an honor that you guys want me to join you again. I had a lot of fun last week, so really, it's no problem. Just tell me when's practice and I'll be there." _

"We will!" Doyoung assures. "Thank you again."

_ "Don't mention it. I'll see you guys then!" _

"We'll see you! Bye, Jaehyun."

_ "Bye, everyone, have a nice day." _

When the call is over, Yuta lets out a breath. "That went… Surprisingly well."

"It did!" Taeyong beams. "I'm surprised. And glad. I'll call the Ballroom to let them know you guys are in."

"I hope you all know" Donghyuck points at the others. "This man is a saint. No regular human soul would agree to deal with our chaotic asses for a second time and even imply he'll have fun while doing it."

"Shut up, Hyuck, we're awesome." Johnny throws a guitar pick at the younger.

"If you say so." the keyboardist shrugs sarcastically, causing the rest of the band to throw pillows at him and the whole room to erupt with laughter.

  
  
  


Saturday finds them at The Siren's Ballroom, getting ready backstage. 

Sooyoung is there, of course, and they all already look the part to perform at a jazz bar. Almost everyone's makeup is done, too, and Doyoung is the last in line.

The stylist is applying foundation to the singer's cheekbones when her phone rings.

"Hang on, darling, it's my brother, I gotta take this to make sure he's not dying in a ditch." she holds up a finger and answers the call. "Hello?... I'm good, and you?... I'm working right now, but go on. You did  _ what _ ?... Honestly, and they say  _ I'm _ the scatterbrained one. Can't you ask mom?... Shit, you're right. I'll see what I can do, but I really should leave you there to walk by yourself. Shut up, you love me. Okay, text me your address, I'll see you soon. Bye, loser."

Doyoung raises an eyebrow at her. "Everything alright?"

Sooyoung sighs. "My dumbass of a younger brother lost his car keys somehow, he said he's afraid his dog took it and yeeted it somewhere. He's late to a dance event he really needs to attend, so he can't walk or take the bus, so he asked me to drive him there."

"Damn, that's tough. It's okay, Sooyoung, you can go."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I'll just go on stage without makeup. No one will notice."

"Absolutely not! I'll ask Yuta to come here real quick and-"

"He's already on stage checking the sound. It's fine, go save your brother's career." Doyoung chuckles.

"I can do his makeup, if that's okay." a newcomer voice says. It's Jaehyun, looking amazing as always in a dark red jacket and with his blonde hair swept to the side. "Sorry, I stopped by to fetch Donghyuck's phone for him and ended up overhearing a few things."

"Do you have experience with makeup?" Sooyoung asks.

"A little. Not as much as you do, but I think it's enough. Better than nothing."

"Well, I'm gonna trust you with that, because I'm in a hurry here." she hands Jaehyun her supplies bag. "These are my babies. Be careful. Harm them and I chop your ears off."

"Yes, ma'am." the drummer nods solemnly "Thank you for your trust."

"Aw, no problem. Thank you for your help." Sooyoung pinches his cheeks. "You're so cute. Now, I gotta go. Save the little gremlin. Bye, guys, good luck today!"

"Thank you, bye Sooyoung!"

It's only when she leaves that Doyoung realizes that he's alone with Jaehyun. Who will be doing his makeup. And staying really close to his face.

Fuck.

He decides to break the ice. Well, there's not really an ice to break — he's the only one gay panicking and overreacting.

"So, do you really have some knowledge of makeup or did you say that just to ease Sooyoung's nerves?"

"I really do!" Jaehyun laughs. "My sister is the same age as me, but she can't do makeup for shit, so I picked up on it to do it for her when she started to be interested in wearing that kind of stuff. It's fun, actually."

“Aw, that’s sweet of you.” Doyoung coos. “I bet she really liked it.”

“She made fun of my skills for a whole month.” the younger scoffs as he picks a brush and foundation. “But I like to believe I’ve improved since then.”

“We’ll see.” the singer smirks, challenging. “What are you gonna do?”

“Nothing too different from what Sooyoung did. I like this color.” Jaehyun uses the tip of a brush to point at a dark green tone on an eyeshadow palette. “What about you?”

“It’s pretty. I like it.”

“Good. Close your eyes, please.” 

Doyoung does as he’s told, and tries to ignore how close the other is to his face, but it’s difficult when he can smell Jaehyun’s minty breath. He feels his face warm up against his will and forces himself to focus on other things to make his blush go away.

It doesn’t work, because Jaehyun touches his cheek lightly to apply the eyeshadow more comfortably. It’s so gentle, it makes Doyoung’s heart flutter. He bites back a sigh.

“How many piercings do you have?” the drummer asks, tapping Doyoung’s eyebrow with his index, right beside the silver jewel that adorns it.

“Uh. I have this one, on my eyebrow, the lip ring, of course, and six on both ears combined.” the singer’s breath hitches as he feels Jaehyun coming even closer to apply eyeliner on his lids. “And I have one more, but it’s, uh, hidden.”

“Hidden?” the other questions, curious. “Where- Oh my God, don’t tell me it’s on your-“

“No!” Doyoung’s eyes shoot open in shock and he yells, exasperated and blushing furiously at the implication. To ever think that such a thought would cross Jaehyun’s mind. “No, no, it’s not- It’s on my collarbone. A trio of dermal punches on my left collarbone.”

The younger laughs delightfully at Doyoung’s embarrassment. “I’m sorry, I'm sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. Sorry.”

“I-It’s okay. I could have worded it better, too.”

“But, a dermal punch?” Jaehyun quirks an eyebrow, then moves closer again and adds: “Close your eyes again, please, I still need to do your right eye. Do dermal punches hurt? I’ve heard a few things.”

“They don’t hurt more than regular piercings, in my opinion. It’s just a weird process. But it looks pretty.”

“I’m sure it does. When did you get it done?”

“Someone’s curious.”

“I’m curious by nature. But I also think piercings are really cool, so.”

“Fair enough. I have this friend, and a while ago he was learning how to become a piercer, and I was his guinea pig to test the dermal punches. He did it for free, so.”

“Weren’t you scared?”

“A little. But he had practiced before, just not on people. I knew I was in good hands, but I still threatened him if anything happened.”

They both laugh at that.

“I’m sure they’re a good look on you.” Jaehyun says. “You can open your eyes now, they’re done. Now I need to decide what will go on the lips. Do you have a usual pick, or something?”

“Not really.” Doyoung shrugs. “Sooyoung usually makes me wear lip tint, or a very faint lipstick.”

“I don’t think any of these colors go with the green eyeshadow I used. Bummer.” the younger puffs out his cheeks as he thinks of a solution, and if it isn’t the cutest sight ever, Doyoung doesn’t know what it is. He seems to spot something in the mess that’s Sooyoung’s bag, because he snaps his fingers and lets out a “Aha! Found a solution.” He fishes out a simple lip gloss, transparent yet glittery. “What do you think?”

“Looks good for me. Is it flavored?”

“The tub says it smells like fresh melons and passion fruit.” Jaehyun opens it and smells the gloss. “Holy shit, it really does.”

“Well, then, let’s go with this one!” 

The drummer leans closer to apply the gloss, and Doyoung is back into panic state, only this time is worse. Jaehyun’s gaze and attention are completely directed at his lips, and his thumb is almost brushing the corner of the singer’s mouth — honestly, it’s a bit too much. He prays for the moment to be over at the same time he relishes at the other’s proximity.

“Your lip ring makes things a little trickier.” Jaehyun comments. “But no worries. The gloss is transparent, so I don’t need to worry about getting the color even in both lips, and stuff. But, hey, all done! Makeup challenge completed.”

“Thank you.” Doyoung smiles sweetly. “I’m sure you did a great job.”

“Here.” the drummer shows him his phone’s front camera so the older can look at his reflection. And Jaehyun’s work is indeed good — the makeup in both eyes is even, his skin looks nice, the lip gloss was a nice choice, it’s shiny and smells good, even if it’s a little sticky.

“Like I said, a great job. Choosing the dark green was a really nice decision, I love it.”

“I’m glad you do. I should give my makeup skills more credit, though.” Jaehyun muses, coming closer. “You look even more beautiful now, so I clearly know what I’m doing.”

Doyoung chokes on air and feels his face heat up. Did he hear that right? Did Jaehyun just call him  _ beautiful _ ? He’s at a loss for words, unable to think of a response.  _ Thank you _ sounds really lame, and he’s scared anything more than that will make him trip over words.

He’s in the middle of mumbling something when someone barges in, loudly.

“Oh, you’re alive!” Donghyuck exclaims, throwing his hands in the air. “I thought you’d died in the middle of fetching my phone for me. Which, I now see, you didn’t do. At all.”

“Sorry, Hyuck.” Jaehyun rubs the back of his neck, truly apologetic. “I got caught up.”

“I see.” the keyboardist gives the pair a rather suggestive look. “Don’t worry, I’m not mad. You should’ve warned me, though. Yuta was starting to elaborate conspiracy theories about the Ballroom eating musicians alive.”

Both Doyoung and Jaehyun snort at that. “I’ll warn you next time. Promise.”

“It’ll be appreciated. Now, since we’re all ready, I think we should go. It’s almost time for us to get on stage.”

And, if Doyoung plays the whole gig with pink dusting his cheeks, he’ll blame the Ballroom’s lighting.

  
  
  
  


Time passes, and the boys from Alinea, which still is a drummerless band, come to a conclusion:

“We should just ask Jaehyun if he wants to be a permanent member of Alinea.”

So they meet up with him at a diner to talk better. Between bites of cheesy slices of pizza, Jaehyun chirps out a “of course!”, followed by a wide smile.

“Wait, just like that?” Yuta raises an eyebrow.

“You guys need to stop saying 'just like that?' as if being around you and playing with you on stage is a burden. It’s not! It’s something I really like to do, alright? And, to be honest…” the drummer adds, with a shy smile. “I was kind of wishing you’d invite me to, you know, be official. I could ask you guys myself, but I didn’t have the guts, so I’m glad you did it.”

“But when we first saw you at the Ballroom you were with Moon Taeil’s support band, right?” Doyoung questions. “Don’t you work with them?”

“You see.” Jaehyun tilts his head to the side. “It’s a curious story, actually. That was me being a substitute for  _ their _ official drummer, who was sick with the flu. So, when you first asked me to be a substitute, I was already being another band’s replacement. It has been kind of my thing for the past few months. I used to be a fixed member of a talk show’s live band, but they decided to cut a few expenses and dismissed us. So I started to just… Wander around and look for where I was needed.”

“But now you’ve found a new home!” Johnny exclaims, hugging his friend’s shoulders. “With us.”

“Are we really going down the cliché lane?” Donghyuck cringes as he takes a sip from his milkshake. “Because I’d rather not.”

“Stop ruining the mood by being the token rebellious teenager, Hyuckie.”

“I’m not a  _ teenager _ , I’m a college student, thank you very much.” he sticks his tongue out at Johnny, then turns to Jaehyun, who was watching the exchange with amusement. “Cliché catchphrases aside, I’m really happy you’re with us now. You’re a good addition. And you’re nice.”

“Thank you. You’re nice, too.”

“He’s really not.”

“Shut up, Yuta.” the younger hisses.

“So, I’m in?” Jaehyun asks. “No rite of passage, anything?”

“This is not a frat, so I guess not. No rites of passage.” Johnny chuckles.

“Sweet.” the drummer smiles. “Thank you, again, for taking me in.”

“No, thank  _ you _ for staying with us.” Doyoung says. “And welcome, again, this time officially, to Alinea.”

  
  
  
  


They’re just finishing their second gig with Jaehyun as an official member when it happens.

It’s an accident. A very enjoyable and delightful one, but still an accident. The band is just leaving the stage and sitting down on the backroom to relax, and Doyoung, differently from their first concert with the new drummer, is high on adrenaline.

One can say he’s not really thinking straight.

He’s quite literally bouncing on his feet, the energy from a few minutes ago refusing to wear down. Jaehyun seems to notice that, because he approaches the singer, with a light touch to his shoulder.

“Doyoung.” he calls. “You okay? You’re buzzing.”

Doyoung turns to him, and his breath is knocked out of his lungs. Jaehyun looks so pretty. Well, he always does, but right now it’s different. His face is a little pink, and he’s  _ glowing _ . Doyoung doesn’t know why he’s so affected — even in the rush and euphoria of their first show after welcoming Jaehyun, the other didn’t look as breathtaking as he does now. Or maybe he did, and Doyoung never noticed. Maybe that’s Jaehyun’s regular post-concert look. The singer wonders if his heart can take it, seeing such a thing all the time.

He gets an answer for that pretty fast, because next thing he knows his brain — or his heart, he’s not sure — is chanting a  _ kiss him, kiss him, kiss him _ .

So Doyoung does.

He crashes his lips against Jaehyun’s own, holding onto his shoulders to support his weight. It’s messy, because Doyoung himself is kind of a mess right now, but it’s nice, it’s so so  _ so  _ nice he feels like he could start floating right then and there. It’s only when Jaehyun tilts his head a bit and places his hands on Doyoung’s waist that he realizes  _ what _ he’s doing, and pulls away immediately.

“Well, that was nice and all”, Jaehyun actually looks flustered. It’s such an adorable sight, the singer wants to kiss him again to see if it can make him blush more. “But you never gave me an answer. Are you okay? You were kind of bouncing off the walls back then.”

“‘M good, it’s just, you know. Adrenaline.”

“Was that what made you kiss me too?”

“Kind of. I mean, I’ve been wanting to do it for a while. The adrenaline just made me grow a pair and actually do it.”

Doyoung’s brain suddenly catches up with what he just said. He covers his mouth with a hand, regret and embarrassment washing over him like a bucket of ice.

Jaehyun looks a little puzzled. “Did you just…”

_Congrats, you idiot_ , Doyoung's brain says to himself. _You just confessed to him. And, by the looks of it, he doesn't like you back. Good job._

He panics.

“I’m sorry.” he chokes out. “I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry, I’m dumb and I- I’ll get going. Sorry.”

Doyoung runs. Well, figuratively — he’s still inside the venue building, so there’s not really room for running. But he does walk very fast, making turns until he reaches the exit so he’s sure Jaehyun didn’t follow him. He realizes he’s making a dumb decision again, leaving like that, but compared to actually  _ confessing _ to his bandmate it seems like nothing. What Doyoung really wants is for the ground to open up and swallow him whole; maybe this way he can escape the aftermath of his impulsive actions. But, while that doesn’t happen, hopping into a cab and locking himself up in his apartment will do.

Once inside the vehicle, Doyoung rests his head on the closed window and sighs.

He’ll never be able to look Jaehyun in the eye again.

  
  
  


“This is an intervention.”

“No, this is breaking and entering.” Doyoung crosses his arms and glares at Johnny, who is currently sitting on his living room’s couch.

“You let me in.”

“I opened the door and you barged in. There’s a difference.” the singer huffs. “I know what you came here to do, and I wouldn’t have opened if I knew it was you. You know I love you, but I’m really not in the mood to talk about that fiasco.”

“Well, too bad we’re talking about it whether you like it or not.” Johnny taps the seat next to him on the couch. “C’mere. We both know there’s a misunderstanding to clear out.”

Doyoung plops down on the cushion, still sulking. “There’s no misunderstanding. I’m the standard definition of a dumb bitch and I proved that by kissing the boy I like and then confessing to him. He looked  _ so _ confused after I did that, god, I felt so stupid. So I ran.”

“You also have been ignoring his calls and refusing to text him back.” Johnny deadpans. 

“Of course I have! I can’t talk to him!”

“Not only you can but you have to. I mean it, Doyoungie, Jaehyun’s been sulking all the time, thinking he did something wrong. I love you both, I can’t handle seeing you two like that.”

“Why would he be sulking?” Doyoung asks, confused. “I mean, I get why he would be embarrassed or something of the sort, but sad? I don’t get it.”

“Wait, are you serious?” the older raises an eyebrow.

“Yeah? What’s with this tone? You act like he likes me back, or something.”

“Wow, you didn’t lie when you said you’re the definition of a dumb bitch.” Johnny shakes his head in disbelief. “ _ Of course _ he likes you back! That’s why he’s been moping left and right! He thinks that you ran away because you regretted your confession and didn’t actually like him back.”

Doyoung is floored. If that’s true, if Jaehyun really does reciprocate his feelings… Then he screwed up even more than he thought he did. And that’s saying something.

“Are you sure?” he asks in a small voice.

Johnny lets out a deep breath. “I’ve been listening to Jaehyun wax poetics about you, your voice, your smile, et cetera, for weeks now. I never told you to respect you guys’ timing, things like that. So yes, I’m sure.”

Doyoung deflates, sliding his back down the couch until he’s on the floor. “I’m a complete, absolute idiot.”

“Yes, yes you are. Now come one, put on some decent clothes, I’m helping you fix this mess.”

  
  
  
  


Jaehyun’s apartment is nice, minimalistic and neat. 

When Doyoung and Johnny get there, entering without having to knock because the older has a copy of the key, the TV is on, playing some 80s slasher movie with shitty special effects, but Jaehyun is nowhere to be seen. 

“Jaehyun?” Johnny calls. “I brought someone you need to see.”

Silence.

“Maybe he’s not here?” Doyoung suggests. He’s not really keen on having  _ the feelings talk _ with the younger man, so he’s praying no one’s home so he can escape.

“He definitely is. He’s either hiding or sleeping.”

“I was brushing my teeth, actually.” a voice says. Jaehyun comes out of a door on their left, probably the bathroom, with his hair messy and eyes puffy. He looks surprisingly soft in sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt, and Doyoung’s heart aches. “I fell asleep watching TV and I just woke up. My back hurts, though. Sleeping on the couch sucks.”

He suddenly notices Doyoung and his eyes widen.

“Yeah, okay I’ll leave you two to talk.” Johnny excuses himself out of the apartment, guiding Doyoung to take a step forward. “Go on, Doyoungie. Fix this mess, alright? Update me when you’re done.”

The older leaves, and Doyoung takes a deep breath. “Well.”

“Well.” Jaehyun repeats. “Oh, shit, sorry I didn’t- Would you like some water? Coffee? I don’t really have coffee, but-“

“I’m okay, thanks.” the singer interrupts, looking down. “Uh. We need to talk.”

“We kinda do, huh.”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s sit down first.” the younger walks towards the couch. “Or don’t. Whatever you prefer.”

Doyoung replies by carefully sitting down on the couch, eyes still downcast and hands resting on top of his knees.

Jaehyun turns off the TV and they both spend a few seconds in awkward silence until the older speaks up.

“I like you. And I don’t regret kissing you. Or confessing. I ran because you looked so confused I thought I made you uncomfortable because you clearly didn’t like me back.”

“Oh.” the drummer says. “Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“I like you back, though. I thought i was too obvious.”

“You weren’t. Or maybe I am too dense.”

“Then I guess I am dense too, because I never would’ve guessed you have feelings for me.”

“Well, in your defense, it took  _ me  _ a while to realize they were feelings-feelings. I was a bit too emotionally constipated to figure out I didn’t only think you were cute.” Doyoung chuckles humorlessly. “I’m so sorry for running away and making you see things the wrong way. And for ignoring your existence for the past couple of days. I was just- Really mad at myself.”

“I’m sorry for reacting in such a way that made  _ you _ see things the wrong way. Perhaps I should’ve just kissed you again.” Jaehyun hugs his knees. “You think that would’ve gotten my feelings across?”

“With the way my brain’s default setting is being a dense idiot, I don’t think so. The only way for me to be sure of things is saying them to my face.”

The you ger scoots closer, taking Doyoung’s hand in his. “Then, here it is: I like you, Kim Doyoung. And I, uh, really enjoyed our first kiss.”

“Is now the time you ask for us to have a second kiss?”

“No, now is the time you say you like me too and take the initiative to start that second kiss.”

Doyoung smiles. “Well then, Jung Jaehyun, I like you too.”

He surges forward to meet the other man’s lips in a passionate kiss.

  
  
  
  
  


They have their first date at The Siren’s Ballroom.

Coincidentally enough, it’s a jazz night, and Moon Taeil and his band are performing. Doyoung and Jaehyun are laughing over a silly story the younger is telling.

“Wow.” he muses, staring at Doyoung.

“What?” the singer raises an eyebrow.

“Your laugh. I love it. It’s so cute.”

“Shut up.” he feels a blush creep up his face. “Yours is cuter.”

“Is this a competition?”

“No… Just a conflict of opinions.”

“Let’s agree to disagree, then?” Jaehyun takes the other’s hand in his.

“Sounds good.”

They smile at each other, and suddenly the music changes to a slow tune.

“Wanna dance?” Doyoung asks, already getting up from the table.

“I can’t dance.” Jaehyun scoffs.

“I’ve seen you dance, and that’s a blatant lie. But I’ll lead, if that makes it easier for you.”

So he does, and they sway on the dance floor together, smoothly. Doyoung places a kiss on the younger’s cheek and points subtly to the stage.

“You were there when you took my breath away for the first time.”

“What a coincidence.” Jaehyun smiles. “You were right here when you caught my attention for the first time. And you never let go of it.”

“You’re such a sap.”

“You started it! I just added my part.”

They let their foreheads touch and stay silent for a while, just enjoying the moment.

“Doyoungie.”

“Hm?”

“I like you a lot.”

“I like you a lot too.” Doyoung pecks Jaehyun’s lips, short and sweet. “You’re adorable.”

The younger laughs, blushing.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Yes, Jaehyun, I’ll be your boyfriend.”

Jaehyun splutters, missing one step of their slow dance. “W-What- How did you know I was going to ask you that?”

“I could sense it. You’ve been wanting to ask me the whole night, haven’t you?” the older smiles smugly.

“You’re insufferable. I take it back. Boyfriendship ended.”

“Aw.” Doyoung pouts, fake-sulking. “Bummer.”

Jaehyun does what needs to be done, and kisses the pout away. “Just kidding, love. You’re not getting rid of me that easily. I plan on pestering you for a while.”

The “for a while” really gets to Doyoung, making his heart melt at the younger’s sweetness. He hugs the other closer, hoping it’ll translate the feelings he can’t put into words.

“Good, because I don’t plan on letting go of you either.”

“So, boyfriends?”

Doyoung laughs. “Yep, boyfriends.”

Jaehyun kisses his forehead, and Doyoung thanks the universe for forcing him to admit his feelings.

Because damn, he’s in love with Jung Jaehyun.

  
  
  


(The two of them later find out the other band members — and Taeyong and Sooyoung — bet on them getting together. Donghyuck insists of fanning himself with the money he got from everyone.)

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> hi again!! i hope you liked it, feel free to leave some feedback if you'd like 💗
> 
> i apologize for any inaccuracies involving makeup and being in a professional band, for i have no experience with either of those oops
> 
> thank you so much for reading and dont forget to check out other fics from enrara!! <3 
> 
> bye bye~


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